Trickery and Temptation
by Artemis Day
Summary: Jane Foster has a problem: she can't seem to beat this one guy in her class. She has another problem: her roommate has a mysterious new boyfriend. The biggest problem yet is to come, when Jane finally comes face to face with said boyfriend, and he is nothing like she could've imagined.


**A/N: 2nd prize in my 1000 followers giveaway on tumblr. For annedey.**

 **Special thanks to Ozhawk for the title inspiration and helping me figure out the story.**

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Jane tapped her pen on the desk, the plastic cap caught between her teeth as she drummed in time with the ticking clock. She wrote three lines of equations on a fresh sheet of lined notebook paper. Standing back to look over her work, she gritted her teeth as she angrily ripped out the page, crumpled it up, and threw it over her shoulder. For the twenty first time today, she would be restarting her homework from scratch, all in the hope of getting every single line and number exactly right.

Not that she'd been keeping track or anything. Not consciously at least.

Somewhere in the back of her mind was the speech some hippie girl once gave about the benefits of technology phasing out paper, and therefore logging. So many innocent trees had died for the sake of Jane's purist ways, and here she was wasting their sacrifice.

Darcy rolled around in bed on her side of the dorm room. She hadn't spoken a word since getting back from her last class. She walked in, dropped her backpack, and flopped face first on the bed. There she lay for two hours, so still that Jane wondered if she might actually be dead. She'd resolved to check just as soon as she figured out this one problem, but then Darcy started to move and groan.

"What time is it?" she groggily asked.

"Ten to six," Jane said as she consulted her textbook.

"Whoa!" Darcy shot out of bed. Bedsheets went flying into the window, knocking the blinds clear off. Still fully dressed, Darcy only had to force her shoes on and grab a coat to get to wherever it was she had to be. "Library closes in three hours. Need to study for the poli science test tomorrow!"

"Have fun," Jane said.

Darcy opened the door in Jane's peripheral vision, but she didn't go anywhere. The light of the hallway was a glowing dot, but she paid it no mind even as the seconds grew longer.

"You've been sitting at that desk since this morning, haven't you?"

Jane flipped the book shut and took up her pen once more. She wrote out another three lines.

"Jane."

"I got up to get food an hour ago," Jane said. "Or two hours ago. Doesn't matter, I got food."

"Food that you ate?"

"Do you see anything rotting next to me? Of course I ate it."

"Just checking."

Darcy hoisted her backpack up and made to shut the door. The dot turned to a skinny line before returning with a vengeance.

"By the way, my boyfriend might come by a little later. He left some stuff here."

"Fine," Jane said, even though only half of what Darcy said registered. "Be nice to finally meet the guy. You haven't even told me what his name is."

Darcy was gone the second Jane said, 'fine'. Down the hall and into the elevator she went, the door to their room hanging ajar. Jane sighed and got up to shut it. Her phone beeped in her pocket with a new text message. She opened it without a care.

 _'btw quit being so crazy abt this test thing. not healthy. xoxo -D'_

Jane scowled at the message, and Darcy's always annoying 'hugs and kisses' sign off.

 _'I'm not crazy,'_ she texted back. _'I'm just dedicated.'_

 _'dedicated to beating rival u mean. still not healthy. xoxo-D'_

Jane threw the phone aside. They were not having this discussion again. Especially not over the phone.

Nobody ever understood just how frustrating it was to deal with Loki Odinson. Failing to score the highest on an exam was one thing; it had happened before and Jane could live with it.

On the other hand, coming in second _every single time_ to the _exact same person_ by a margin of _two fucking points_ …

Needless to say, it had become a bit troubling.

Worst of all was never getting the chance to meet the guy who so easily trumped her face to face. Loki Odinson might as well not even exist. He never once raised his hand in class, never contributed to the discussions, Jane didn't even know what he looked like. The only reason she knew his name at all was because the test scores were posted online.

If Jane couldn't confront him in person, she didn't know how she was ever going to get over this. Trying to envision Loki always sent Jane in one of two directions. Either he was a quiet, socially awkward nerd with bad hair who could only express himself through books, or he was an insufferable genius who thought his classmates and the professors were all beneath his superior intellect. For now, she assumed the former. The school already had one arrogant smart guy in the form of Tony Stark. The last thing they needed was another one.

As five more balls of crumpled up paper joined the rest, bringing the total number to twenty six, there came a knock on the door. Jane left her pen to roll over the last clean page in her notebook and stepped over Darcy's unwashed clothes to answer it.

"Why doesn't she just go to the laundry room?" Jane said under her breath.

"That is an excellent question."

The man at the door was tall. No, tall was an understatement. He towered over Jane like no one else ever had, and that was saying something. He had no trouble looking over her head at the messy room. She wanted to apologize, but she was too busy staring at his collarbone. She craned her neck up to meet bright green eyes looking down at her over a long, regal nose. He was good looking for sure, but for the life of her, Jane couldn't imagine why someone like this would be visiting her.

"Can I help you?" she asked slowly.

"I hope so," he said, "if you can't, I'll have to go looking for Darcy, and knowing her, she could be halfway across town by now."

Ah, okay. That explained it.

So she finally got to meet Darcy's mystery man. He wasn't really what she expected. Darcy had had two boyfriends before him, neither long lasting. Both were tall, broad shouldered and blonde headed. They had been athletes with well developed bodies shown off by tight t-shirts. Darcy Lewis very much had a type, and the man standing in front of her wasn't it.

Where those guys were the epitome of the classic hunky guy, this man was tall, dark, and handsome boiled down to its essence. He was the kind of guy Jane would've gone for if she was at the club.

And he was Darcy's boyfriend. Just her luck.

Jane shook away all inappropriate thoughts and turned back inside.

"Sorry for the mess," she said, kicking one of Darcy's socks out of the way, "though I guess you saw enough of it last night."

"I beg your pardon?"

Jane threw Darcy's comforter back onto her bed, and on the floor beneath it was a stack of four textbooks and one notebook. The textbooks were all basic first year subjects that she herself was taking. The notebook had some kind of scribbling on the cover that might have been a name. She could make out either a T or an L.

"There you go," she said, handing over the books. "By the way, next time you come over to watch a movie, do you think you guys can make sandwiches or something? I've been finding popcorn kernels all over the place. There were even some in the bathroom."

"Is that so?"

"I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but Darcy isn't the only one who lives here, and I want to try and keep this place clean."

She made a show of collecting Darcy's soiled clothing and gathering it together into a pile. She pulled a laundry bag from the closet and proceeded to stuff everything inside three pieces at a time, until the bag was full to bursting. All the while, Darcy's boyfriend remained in the hall, staring at Jane with an odd expression.

"I see," he whispered. Jane almost didn't hear it. The next time he spoke was much clearer, as he sauntered into the room, leaving the books on Jane's desk and sitting on the couch with his feet up. "I suppose I should apologize on Darcy's behalf, but we both know how easy it is for her to take leave of her senses."

"Tell me about it," Jane said. She felt a pang of guilt for talking about Darcy behind her back, but it wasn't like he was wrong.

"She is quite adventurous," he went on. "I don't think I've ever known a girl so very open about her interests."

The way he said it, it was abundantly clear that by 'interests', he didn't mean blogging or the debate club.

"Oh," Jane said. She coughed to clear her throat. "That's… nice."

"It's very nice," he said salaciously. "Very nice indeed."

"I was just getting some homework done," Jane said casually. "I've got a lot to cover before class tomorrow."

"So you do," he said, nodding at her disaster of a workspace and still not getting up. "But you know, Darcy and I have been up to such mischief within these walls."

"I really, really need to finish this work."

"I'm surprised the neighbors haven't lodged noise complaints. She has a most impressive lung capacity."

"You know, she's at the library right now. I bet she'd love it you went to see her."

"She doesn't like being disturbed when she's studying," he said, a sinister grin creeping over his features. "Didn't you know that?"

"Yeah, it's something she and I have in common."

"A strong work ethic is a highly attractive quality in a woman," he said, "or so I've always believed. I've found that those who work hard in the classroom also work hard… elsewhere."

Why did he pause like that? What point was he trying to make? _Why was he even still here?_

"Look, it's been really nice meeting you, and I'm glad that you and Darcy are having fun together, but I-"

"Should I mention all the fun we had last night in that chair you're sitting on?"

Jane jumped to her feet. He didn't laugh out loud at her knee-jerk response, but it was in his smile and his eyes. He was mocking her, playing with her. Now she understood perfectly. This was all a big game to him.

"If you don't mind, I think it's time you went home," she said.

"Thank you, but I'm fine. You're not bothering me at all."

"I'm not-" She was going to hit him. She was going to rip the monitor out of the wall and smash it over his head. Darcy would just have to reopen her account. "You're the one bothering me! This is my dorm room."

He looked around, as if just suddenly realizing this.

"Well then, perhaps I owe you an apology."

' _You think?'_

"I'm afraid I've just been anxious to meet you, Jane. For some time now."

"Anxious to meet _me_?"

He stood over her. Jane forgot for a moment how to breathe as his scent and heady gaze threatened to overwhelm her.

"My dear Jane, no one has ever come as close to defeating me academically as you have."

The floor dropped out beneath Jane. She'd gone base jumping once on a dare, and the sensation of falling then was nothing compared to now. The man before her- Darcy's boyfriend- showed off straight white teeth as he grinned evilly. She was inclined to believe that wasn't a figure of speech. Once Jane's back was turned, he'd start cackling maniacally before going off to rob a bank or tie a damsel to the train tracks.

"Wait…" Jane shook her head. "You're telling me that _you_ are Loki? You're the guy in all my classes?"

"It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." He took her by the hand. Not to shake as she expected, but to kiss her knuckles. "As soon as I learned that you were Darcy's roommate, I was thrilled. Finally a chance to meet you one on one."

"But I… I mean- you're never in class!"

He tilted his head to one side. "I most certainly am. Have you not seen me?"

"No! You never say a word."

"I prefer to mind my own work while in class," he said. "I participate enough before and after, assisting our professors. They appreciate like minded people who can offer feedback on their personal research."

"Our professors would not let undergraduates look at their work!" Jane snapped.

"I beg to differ," he said. "In fact, I'll bet if you asked, similar privileges would be awarded to you. I would enjoy the opportunity to get to know you better."

The way his voice lowered on the final sentence had the power to make her whole body seize. All that worked were her feet, dragging her half a step closer to him and that low pitched rumble in his chest that did the strangest things to her. If this was the way he talked to Darcy, Jane could almost understand why she fell for him.

"You're Darcy's boyfriend," she said, and he wasn't the only one who needed the reminder.

"So you've said." His fingers brushed her wrist, hot like fire. "We could revise that statement."

"... okay you need to leave now." Jane shoved him towards the door utilizing strength she didn't know she had to get him into the hallway. She grabbed his books on the way out and tossed them at him. He caught them easily.

"I hope you'll take my advice," he said conversationally as Jane forced him around a corner. "Our professors would be as happy to indulge in your interest as they are mine. You are their second best student after all."

"I'm not the second best _anything_!" She gave him one final push into the elevator. "And by the way, that couch you were sitting on? It's mine. I brought it from home, and you should have seen the stuff me and _my_ old boyfriend got up to on it!"

She was strutting down the hall out of sight before he reached the next floor.

Two days went by. Two long, awkward days during which Darcy was barely around. She spent the night at a friend's apartment and had a big test the day after. It gave Jane time to figure out what she was going to do. Obviously, she had to let Darcy know that her boyfriend was both insane and trying to come on to her. The question was how to broach the topic. Was it even possible to politely tell a girl that the guy they were seeing was a super intelligent philandering psychopath?

And that was another thing, why the hell hadn't Darcy told her she was _dating_ Loki Odinson?

That seemed like something Jane should've known about.

At least it might explain why Darcy failed to introduce them before. Jane couldn't say in good conscious that she wouldn't have spent the whole meeting staring him down and trying to intimidate him with her encyclopedic knowledge of sub atomic particles. Maybe this was Darcy's roundabout way of breaking the ice without having to physically be there. She couldn't have known what Loki was like when she wasn't around, right?

Jane found her on the eve of the third day, doing shots at the downtown bar, her usual hangout. Jane had only been in there once or twice, but the layout was easy to remember. Bartop was on one side, tables and chairs on the other. Darcy would be at the bar, ordering up round after round until someone with a brain decide she'd had enough and carried her home.

Sure enough, there she was. She was upright, so she probably hadn't had more than one yet. Jane pushed her way through the crowd, calling Darcy's name until her throat was sore.

"Hey Jane!" Darcy said upon finally spotting her. "Didn't know you'd be here tonight. Pull up a chair. I was just about to get seconds."

"I don't want any drinks," Jane said, disregarding Darcy's pout. "I need to talk to you. It's important. Can we go outside?"

"Outside? It's freezing out there!" Darcy waved at the bartender, who was mixing someone else's drink and motioned to her that he'd be there in a minute. "It's okay, no one's listening."

That seemed true enough. Most of the people around them were busy in their own groups or else too drunk to process their surroundings.

"Okay, well…" Jane swallowed. "It's about your boyfriend."

"My what?" Darcy shouted, her cupped over her ear. "It's loud in here, Jane. You have to speak up."

"I said it's about your boyfriend!"

"About _what_?"

" _Your boyfriend_!"

"Someone call?"

A man stepped up behind Darcy, snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her back into his chest. Darcy squeaked and giggled, reaching up to plant a sweet kiss on his lips that quickly grew sloppy and more intense, while Jane was the unwitting witness to the display.

What really got her was the man's appearance; his blonde hair, his broad shoulders, his classic hunky guy looks, and the fact that he was not Loki Odinson.

"Who the hell is this?"

Darcy broke the kiss at Jane's shout. Her cheeks were flushed and her carefully applied lipstick a smudgey mess.

"Jane, this is Thor, my new guy," she said. "Met him last month in class. Isn't he great?"

"It's a pleasure, Jane," Thor said, shaking her hand. "Darcy's told me all about you. I'm sorry I couldn't come meet you the other day. Unfortunately football practice ran longer than expected, but my brother had nothing but good things to say about you."

"Your _brother_?" Jane gawked at them, her mind entering a state of turmoil. "But- but he said… he said…"

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, long fingers curling and digging into her jacket. Jane couldn't look up. She knew exactly what she'd see if she did.

"Good evening, Jane," Loki said in her ear, making her shiver. "I'd been hoping to see you again."


End file.
